


writing the future, writing it out loud

by allyargents



Category: Arrow (TV 2012), Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: F/M, action + romance + angst, the pacific rim/arrow crossover that literally nobody wanted, with a happy ending because i'm a sap
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-05
Updated: 2015-03-05
Packaged: 2018-03-16 05:14:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,460
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3475790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allyargents/pseuds/allyargents
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even though she knows the sun is setting on the rest of the world, she feels like she's watching a sun rise. And it's beautiful.</p><p>//</p><p>oliver and felicity take on the kaiju.</p>
            </blockquote>





	writing the future, writing it out loud

**Author's Note:**

> title from paramore's future, which is an absolutely beautiful song you should listen to.
> 
> this is pretty simple - an oliver/felicity pacific rim au that i'm writing because i don't want to study for my midterms.
> 
> oliver is very similar to raleigh in this fic, cause oliver is pretty similar to raleigh, but they're their own characters. i just thought that oliver and felicity would be great drift partners and *this* happened. oops.
> 
> just a note: in this world, merlyn isn't a total asshole, and thea isn't his daughter, because while he's shitty on the show, this role made sense for him.
> 
> just another note: i know that it would make more sense for oliver and digg to be jaeger pilots and for felicity to be on comms, because that's how it is on the show, and digg is more than moral support, but felicity and oliver would so be drift compatible, and digg used to be a jaeger pilot in this, at least. because he's awesome.

Felicity's heard the rumors, heard the stories, because after so many years, they're essentially legends - and what are legends for but not to get told?

Oliver Queen had piloted a Jaeger with his father since he was sixteen; he was known for being all reckless guts and heart, but not so much rational precision, which was fine until they were hundreds of miles off the Oregon coast and he just had to save some fishermen.

He couldn't save his father, and he couldn't save his Jaeger, and, because she's a Jaeger programmer before she's anything, and she _knows_ how the Jaegers work like the palm of her hand, she knows that he didn't save himself.

What she doesn't know, what neither she nor anyone else has heard, is that everything's going to go wrong, and they're going to need him. __They're going to need her, too. _  
_

~

 

Felicity learns this: he saved himself, but maybe he didn't, because he's hidden. He's working on a wall that he knows is pointless, has been for five years, and saved people don't let the world end around their feet. 

She learns that Amanda Waller, the woman in charge because Quentin Lance, his second in command, was an alcoholic, and the neurologic damage got too bad for her to continue, knew the whole damn time.  

And because Amanda trusts John Diggle, a former Jaeger pilot who's currently the head of training, Digg knew too. 

She's not mad because she knows Oliver, because she doesn't, she's mad because she knows Digg. Diggle raised her - after her parents died at the age of five in a Kaiju attack on the coast of California, he brought her in. 

She's a little less mad when Digg tells her that the war does such a number on you that you _have_ to recover on your own and she wonders how badly Digg had it before she met him.

Felicity's ninety nine percent sure she doesn't want to know.

~

 

The first time she meets Oliver goes like this:

She has a red pen in her mouth, and she thinks he's Digg. 

So naturally, she starts rambling  

"Hey, so since the Canary couldn't kill that stupid Kaiju, I've been going over the feed and I think I've figured out approach that particular one - their throats seem like kind of a weak point, and Laurel and Sara went for the stomach, and -"

She doesn't get to finish, because he just smiles sadly and says "The Lances have a jaeger now?"

Fuck- bringing up the Lances in front of _Oliver Queen_ wasn't her brightest move.

(Sara, her best friend in this place, told her that Oliver dated Laurel when she was Lance's daughter learning how to pilot and he was an arrogant superhero, he slept with Sara during the relationship and they both hate him now. He probably deserves it, if Laurel's language is anything to go by.)

"Yeah, um. Sara got partnered up with a girl named Nyssa, until Nyssa went all murder-rage from neuro damage on a bad run with League, the Jaeger that Slade and Shado used to use, and Laurel had to get over her alcohol problem before she could finish her training, and then after getting over you they realized that they were drift-compatible and I'm really, really -" Felicity is clearly the most eloquent person in the entire world. Go her.

But, before she can word-vomit to death, because let's face it, he's beautiful and she's had too much coffee, he butts in - "Please, don't say sorry. I was a jackass in a love triangle and after, well, you know what, it's kind of natural to want to accept responsibility for more things.

Well, that wasn't what she expected. He seems like he's trying to improve.

"Well, um. I'm glad you grew up. And I hope you're here to fight, because we're pretty much crashing and burning right now. Speaking of crashing and burning, which is how my attempt at a conversation is going, did you need anything?

He smiles, replies "yeah, actually. I'm ready to see my Jaeger - I know you had a hand in repairing Arrow, and it's - it's time." 

The first thing she learns about Oliver Queen is that he's dead.

The second thing she learns is that he's a bastard.

But the most important things she learns are that he's alive, and he's a good man, and he's ready to fight.

~

  

She brings him to Arrow.

She explains the improvements she and Sara, who dabbled in Jaeger repair when she got injured, made, explains how it'll be bigger, and stronger, and better.

She sees his eyes twinkle. 

Even though she knows the sun is setting on the rest of the world, she feels like she's watching a sun rise.

~

 

She doesn't see him again for a couple weeks, told by Sara that he's making amends with his sister, a recent addition to the program, and training all hours of the day, at least until she goes to the Simulator for some early morning training and finds him.

"Felicity?" It's pretty clear that he didn't expect her, and she's told he can tell when people are approaching him like it's a sixth sense. 

She's as startled as he is, because by early morning, she meant 3:30 am, and no one's ever awake at this hour.

"Why are you awake?" She asks him, figuring it's a safe enough question. At least it avoids talking about her.

"A guy doesn't spend five years on the wall without developing a terrible sleep schedule. The better question is, why is Felicity Smoak, Jaeger programmer extraordinaire, at the simulator at 3:30 am?" He has the nerve to smirk, which makes her want to punch him, but she figures it can wait. Maybe. 

"It, uh, it needed some repairs." It's a lie, and he'll see right through it, but when did stalling ever kill anybody.

"You're lying, and you're not very good at it. My bet is that you want to pilot a Jaeger but Digg won't let you, because Sara said that he's your surrogate dad, so you're training at 3:30 in an attempt to avoid him knowing." He says it pretty deadpan, but he probably knows that he's spot on. He is.

She's wanted to be a Jaeger pilot since she and Digg showed up five years ago, she knows the insides and outsides of these machines, and she's strong, both mentally and physically, and intelligent beyond belief, and she knows her gut instinct and follows it. She knows she could do it, but everyone else knows that she's a dorky Kaiju programmer with glasses that are always falling down. 

"And what would you say if that were true?" She says it because that gut instinct? It's telling her to trust him, no matter how arrogant he may be, just like it told her that Sara'd be her best friend, and just like it told her that she's more than a brainy mechanic. 

"I'd say that you've never tried the simulator for two people, and I'd ask you if you'd like to." 

Oh boy, would she like to.

 

~

  

She's just casually eating breakfast, oatmeal with berries and more brown sugar than she would admit to anyone, when Sara plops down next to her and yells: "You're jaeger training?" 

Well, it's more like "YOU'RE JAEGER TRAINING?????" but Sara's the kind of girl who needs to be dialed down sometimes. Felicity loves her for it.

Felicity's really not sure what to say, so she stutters "Uhh no? Okay maybe? Yes? But if you breathe a word to Digg I will kick your ass. I mean it. Also, how did you _know?_ " 

She's a really eloquent human being, ask anyone. 

"Felicity!! That's so great!! Ahhhhhhh!! And I went to the simulator this morning, saw your name next to Ollie's on the sign in logs, asked him. He said you said that you've been training for months, which makes me mad that you didn't tell me, but I can overlook it because ahhhh!! You're gonna be a pilot!!!" 

Sara's hardened by war and battle and loss, but when she's really truly excited about something, she acts like she's five years old.

That said, it's still not the reaction Felicity expected. Also, she's mad that she forgot to tell Oliver to use a different name than her's. 

"Really? First of all, remind me to kill Oliver, second of all, I'm not gonna be a pilot because Digg is overprotective, third of all you're not going to give me the whole "Felicity, darling, I love you but you're brain, not brawn and you're gonna get yourself killed" speech?" She's almost out of breath by the time she's done talking, something that's not entirely out of the ordinary. 

Sara just shrugs and replies "Well, I would, but you're the most stubborn and dedicated person I've ever met, and you've always liked being on the battle lines, and I trust you. Plus, I'm not a sexist asshole who thinks that just cause a girl's good with giant robots doesn't mean she can't kick my ass."

Felicity just smiles, and tells her "You're the best friend I could ask for."

"I know. Let's go see how good you really are?"

Felicity has the best friends in the entire world. 

~

 

A month later, Felicity's chosen to choose the list of candidates for Oliver's drift program, and she chooses, among others, Roy Harper, Thea Queen, and, most importantly, herself.

Roy's too scrappy and angry and Thea's too timid, slightly undertrained, and well, scrappy, at least compared to Oliver's well-trained precision with an air of reckless bravery. She thinks that Roy and Thea would actually be good partners, probably drift-compatible, but they both need more training. Felicity notices this, just like she notices that her own style goes perfectly with his. Her style is brave, intelligent and quick-thinking, with a unique understanding of how the machine operates. They're both good - brave and fast on their feet, but her rationality would temper his impulsivity, and his experience is just what she needs in the battlefield.

So, when the second-to-last candidate's up - Ray Palmer, his name is, and since from everything she's heard he's naive and arrogant, she ducks out of the room to change into workout clothes.

Digg makes the call for last candidate and she steps forward.

"Felicity Smoak, sir." She speaks calmly and firmly, and hopes that her hands aren't shaking. They probably are.

He's shocked, and furious, but Diggle is nothing but a professional, so he clenches a fist and recites "Number of kills in the simulator?"

She's damn proud of this, so she's speaking clearly because she means it this time "55 drops, 55 kills." She can actually see his jaw drop, see him roll his eyes before he says "Come on up, Smoak. Best out of three, a fourth fight if Oliver requests it."

Felicity loses the first fight, because she slightly underestimated the  _speed_ at which Slade taught his men to fight. He just smirks and says "Thought better of you, 'Licity." The nickname and the insult are enough to send her into battle mode, which causes her to kick his ass next time, if only just barely. The third time, it's neck and neck for five minutes, until she anticipates his back-pocket backflip that's only relevant in hand to hand combat, and gets him onto the ground.

They're both out of breath and sweating and  _smiling_ for god's sake, so when Oliver requests the fourth fight, Diggle just rolls his eyes and says "Go for it." 

The three of them are only people in the gym at that point, and Diggle actually makes them quit after seven minutes because one of them will pass out before the other wins. He laughs and just says "You're a team, okay? But you're also a team who will be in the gym at 4 AM every damn morning, because this is for real."

They've never agreed to anything faster.

~

  

Of course, that's when it all goes to shit. Felicity and Oliver get called out for their first Kaiju a couple weeks later, teaming up with the Canary and the Merlyn, a Jaeger literally named for Malcolm and his son Tommy. They're doing so well, and then a second Kaiju appears - the same category and type that killed her parents, and the neural handshake breaks.  She  _knows_ that all Oliver can see is her, five years old, running from a Kaiju through downtown Seattle, crying, getting rescued by Diggle, who was still in the Jaeger program at that point. 

"Felicity, breathe, come on, you're okay, I'm here, come on, breathe, goddamnit." Oliver's just reciting various forms of the same words and after a couple minutes, the choice words of "It's gone" snap her out of it.

She takes a deep breath and asks "Is it really gone?", and she's never felt smaller in her entire life.

"Yeah, it's gone, the Canary took it down, let's get you home." He says it with a wince, and she realizes then that he's injured.

"Oliver, are you okay?" She replies, apparently on the verge of hysteria.

He sighs, and replies "Felicity, in case you didn't notice, the Kaiju took out the entire left wall of this area. It gashed my side a couple times too, before Merlyn could swoop in."

She starts crying and apologizing and crying some more, and she knows that Oliver's disappointed in her, that Digg's disappointed in her, and that her parents probably would be too. Oliver's trying to be nice, but he's also avoiding her eyes, and she's never felt like more of a failure.

~

 

She gets to base, gets checked out of the infirmary, and locks herself up in her room for three days.

She's too emotionally weak to be a Jaeger pilot. She's smart, and she can fight, but emotions were one thing she never considered to be her downfall.

Of course, on day 4, when she's given up on saving the world altogether, because even though she's an optimist, she's a tired and scared optimist, and Thea could probably co-pilot with Oliver, the man himself knocks on the door.

She doesn't realize that it's him, so she sighs and just says "Who is it?"

He pauses, realizing that she's quieter than he expected - her personality is nothing if not bold, and just says "It's Oliver, Felicity. May I come in?"

He's timid, she realizes, which is almost the entire reason she lets him in, walking over and opening the door.

"Hi," she essentially whispers it, and the tiny smile he gives her makes her want to cry.

"Hey," he says, all quiet strength, because he wanted so badly to trust her and she messed it up. Badly.

"Are you - are you okay?" She asks him because it's not the safest question, but it's probably the most important one.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay. I'm a little beat up, but give it a couple more days of rest and I'll be right as rain. Promise." He's kind and he has a sense of humor and he's  _honest_ and she'd love him for it if loss wasn't so omnipresent these days. He scratches his neck before continuing; "Are  _you_ okay?", and Felicity will never underestimate someone's ability to italicize words ever again.

"Physically, I barely spent 5 minutes in the Med Wing, mentally is a whole other story." She goes for wry and falls absurdly flat, just seeming sad.

"Felicity," he says it heartbroken, like it's a prayer or something, "when I first drifted, it was with Tommy. I was eighteen and he was seventeen, and we were inseparable - everyone thought we'd be drift compatible, but come battle-time, we both got too distracted by thoughts of Laurel Lance, and they had to pull us out of there as fast as possible." He laughs, somewhat bitterly, before speaking again, "we ended up getting partnered with our dads, because we both needed to grow up and Queens and Merlyns have different blood and different strategies, but that's not my point. My point is that the drift requires total trust. It requires total understanding and trust of your partner, which you and I seem like we've nailed, but it also requires total trust in  _yourself."_ He grabs her hand before continuing, and the gesture's so sweet she almost cries. _"_ You can do this, Felicity," he says, "you are strong, and your past doesn't define you, and you're not alone anymore."

She pulls him into a hug, and whispers "I don't know if I can, Oliver."

He pulls her closer and says "I've got to heal for another two days, okay? You heal too, we tackle the apocalypse when we're ready."

 

Felicity knows that most Jaeger pilots are family, knows the efficiency with which partners like Laurel and Sara and Tommy and Malcolm work together, and she knows that the rare ones who aren't usually fall in love. That special kind of intimacy, the bond it requires to do this, it makes it easy to love someone.

 

She thinks she would have loved Oliver in any world. 

~

 

Two days come and go. She talks to Diggle about the drift, talks to Sara about loss, talks to Oliver about everything.

They get another two weeks of rest. She spends hours in the gym, by herself, with Diggle and Oliver, and occasionally even with Laurel, who has a badass workout routine beyond anything she's ever seen. She learns how to trust herself again. Not just in her own hands, but in the hands of someone else. It's a beautiful thing. 

Then, there's a category 4 Jaeger approaching the Tokyo coastline, and a Category 3 not far behind it, which is a less beautiful thing.

"How long do we have?" She asks Waller, the woman in charge. She hopes it's at least an hour, because she can get ready in fifteen minutes, but she needs some time with Oliver first.

"You have two hours. But this isn't just a standard kill, pilots. Felicity, you've at least talked to Caitlin and Cisco about the possibility of a nuclear bomb -" She says it calmly, but this is the exact opposite of what she wants to hear. It's necessary, but it means two people _will_ die.

"Destroying the tunnel between the two universes, yeah. Two people would have to go in there and set it off, though." Her voice is quaking and she's just praying that Oliver hasn't volunteered himself for a suicide mission, because it seems like something Oliver would do.

Amanda looks to her left, and replies "The Merlyns have already volunteered." Oliver goes slack-jawed, but Tommy picks up before he can say anything "Oliver, I'm sorry dude, you're a brother to me, but my dad is dying from the brain damage, and he can't copilot with anyone else after she - I can't believe I'm going on a suicide mission myself, but this is the only way we're going to win it and I always said I'd rather die in a Jaeger, didn't I?"

Oliver nods, probably trying not to cry, and just says "Please, don't, Tommy. But you're a stubborn asshole, so you're going to anyways. And I love you for it." 

They hug, and Felicity can hear Diggle's voice over everything, shouting "Let's go stop the apocalypse!

 

Let's go, indeed.

~

 

She and Oliver head back to their quarters to get ready, which just happen to be across the hall from each other, so Felicity goes into his room without even thinking about it.

She sits down next to him, on his tiny cot, and just says "Oliver." She's not sure how she's going to finish the sentence, and he's already taken off his shirt, which is kind of distracting, but she has to say  _something_. 

"Yeah, Felicity?" He says it softly, like he knows it's important, and he thinks he knows that she loves him. She thinks he loves her too.

"I - we're probably going to die in a few hours, and I -" Man, she cannot speak right now. This isn't the time for that, brain. "I think you're brave, and kind, and incredible, and I know that you lost your dad to a Kaiju, and there's a more than decent chance we lose each other tonight, but either I say this and we have a tragic love story for the ages, or I say this and we get our happily ever after, or I don't say this and we never know." She pauses to take a deep breath, because these words have meaning and these words cannot be rushed.

He knows what she's going to say, mostly because drifting with someone makes you pretty receptive to their emotions, and apparently he's okay with it, because he's holding her hand like he'll never get to again, and the gesture alone makes her want to cry.

"I love you." 

He's kissing her before she can blink, kissing her like she's precious and fragile, but also like she's strong and the world's going to end. 

She pulls away for air, because she just realized that breathing is important (damn, the man can kiss), and the second she takes a breath he whispers reverently - "Love you, love you so much, Felicity, c'mere". 

 

They stay that way until Laurel and Sara show up, and just like that, it's time to fight.

~

  


They walk down to the Foundry with Laurel and Sara, hand in hand, preparing for whatever Waller's going to say. More importantly though, preparing for battle.

She greets them cordially before diving into plans. "Canary, you're going to take Merlyn's left side, with Quentin Lance on comms. Arrow, you're taking the right side, with John Diggle on comms-" 

Waller's prepared to continue with information for Merlyn, but before that, Felicity chimes in, because Diggle's not a comms guy. "With all due respect, Commander, Diggle is a trainer, not on comms." 

Waller nods over and all of a sudden, Diggle's here, standing in front of Felicity and Oliver, saying "Yeah, but I'm the only one who knows how you two fight. Remember, you've only taken two kaiju together. Also, I've fought plenty, which means I know what to tell you better than someone like Palmer, who was Waller's choice, ever could. I've got your back, Felicity."

She's never been more terrified, but at the same time? This is a fucking dream team. 

  


They get in the Jaeger, preparing to drop, preparing to drift, and the second before, Oliver looks over and says "I've never wanted to live more than I do now."

She just laughs, replying "Well, we better win, then. Cause we're gonna have the greatest life, Oliver." 

~

  


The first Kaiju attacks after 20 minutes, and the three of them fend it off expertly. Merlyn almost kills it, because Malcolm Merlyn loves killing Kaiju more than he loves living, but Tommy lets it live, because Tommy has actual humanity. She likes Tommy a lot more than him, understands why Oliver loves him, almost cries because he's going to die. He's going to die, and she can't stop it.

They bring it to the breach, which is when things start to go wrong - there's a third kaiju, which could easily be one too many for them to take, and Merlyn starts to go down. 

Tommy says "You'll always be able to find me in the drift, buddy", before drifting off into unconsciousness, and Oliver almost loses it. He's the strongest man she's ever met, though, so he holds on.

Their Jaeger is filled with water up to her knees, and she thinks they're done for, she thinks they're all done for and the world will end and she'll never get to hold Oliver again, when she remembers that Arrow is the last nuclear Kaiju. 

Oliver, of course, realizes that she's thinking this, because he can read her thoughts right now. "Felicity," he says, "I can't just let you do this."

Oh how she loves him, the noble asshole. "I know this Jaeger better than anyone, Oliver. And if I'm lucky, I can make it out of here. What would Thea say if I let you stay down here?"

He knows she makes a valid point, so he gets up, kisses her helmet, and makes his way over to the escape pod. 

"Happily ever after, okay?" She tells him, because he has to know this, "I want that more than I've ever wanted anything."

He smiles, says "Me too, Felicity, me too", and he gets in the escape pod.

She, in thirty seconds, manages to turn on the nuclear bomb in the Jaeger and sets it on a 30 second time delay - just enough time to get in the escape pod.

She's about to pass out by the time she gets in the escape pod, but she thinks that she just won the war, and she thinks that maybe, just maybe, she'll be able to share that with Oliver.

~

  


Felicity doesn't pass out. Felicity makes it to the air, and the first thing she realizes is that she can't find Oliver.

She's scanned every degree imaginable, before something directly behind her catches her eye, and she realizes that it's an escape pod. She's swimming over before she bothers to check if she's capable of swimming, which is a totally reckless decision, but she supposes that he's rubbed off on her. There are worse things.

She opens the pod, hugs him for all he's worth, and when she realizes he's not breathing, she panics and kisses him, mostly in an attempt to get some oxygen in his lungs, but also because she's alive and she really wants to kiss him. Felicity hears a mumbled groan that sounds something like "Licity", so she pulls off of him to hear him say, laughing "You were squeezing me so tightly I couldn't breathe."

She's never smiled more, laughing as she says "You're alive, you're alive, I love you, I love you, we're alive", before realizing that their life doesn't mean it's over.

She turns on the comms, asks Digg, "Hey, we're alive, is it over?" She heaves a deep breath before his voice comes rushing through the comms, "Yeah, Felicity, you did it. The apocalypse is over." She takes a deep breath before clutching onto Oliver for all he's worth.

He rubs her back, clutching just as hard, and asks her "So? You did it?"

She just kisses him passionately, kisses him with all she's got, and the second she's forced to breathe, because even Jaeger pilots have to breathe, replies "I did it," before she realizes that's wrong entirely. "We did it. Together." 

  


The sun is setting to the west, but it's rising on the rest of their lives.

**Author's Note:**

> well, that's it! i'll turn this into a series if i decide i want to write more oliver/felicity aus, but for now i hope you enjoyed?
> 
> they're both probably slightly ooc, and i know sara is, but sara is more pre-island sara than post, and i did the best i could?


End file.
